On Friday, November 9th, 2007, this is the HNC Birding Report: ROSS'S GOOSE KING EIDER BARROW'S GOLDENEYE EARED GREBE CATTLE EGRET SWAINSON'S HAWK BARRED OWL BOHEMIAN WAXWING
Snow Goose Cackling Goose Canada Goose Wood Duck Harlequin Duck Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Long-tailed Duck Common Goldeneye Red-throated Loon Common Loon Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Great Egret Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Goshawk Red-shouldered Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Golden Eagle Sandhill Crane Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs Dunlin Wilson's Snipe Lesser Black-backed Gull Northern Shrike Common Raven Tufted Titmouse Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Nashville Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Tree Sparrow Snow Bunting Purple Finch Common Redpoll Pine Siskin Evening Grosbeak Our annual fall bird count was held last Sunday and what a great day we had for it. The number of species were slightly down from last year (135 reported so far) but some excellent birds were found. The two best birds of the count were found by the same observer! Checking out the possibility that the Cattle Egrets still might be around at the corner of Woodhill Road and Hwy 5, a check of the farm yielded the two egrets cruising through the cows. Continuing on the way to a second area she notices a long-winged hawk flying in a dihedral. A stop at the side of the road and a dodge in traffic was worth a great look of an adult light morph SWAINSON'S HAWK. Oh and forgot to mention that she had a Common Raven fly over the yard before she even started. Three great finds, might of stopped for a lottery ticket after this! Congratulations. Other highlights of the count were KING EIDER off of Fifty Point Conservation Area, EARED GREBE off of Coronation Park in Oakville, Great Egret at the Valley Inn, Sandhill Cranes along the Grand River in the south end of the HSA, Lesser Black-backed Gull in Brantford, BOHEMIAN WAXWING in a small group of Cedars in Woodland Cemetery, at least four Tufted Titmice in various areas (a bird hard to get anywhere in the HSA), several reports of Northern Shrike, Common Yellowthroat in the Dundas Marsh and a couple of reports of late Nashville Warblers. Shorebirds found on the count included Greater Yellowlegs at the Dundas Hydro Ponds, Dunlin, Killdeer and a good count of Wilson's Snipe along the Grand River. The hawk flight was also good proven by the "bird of the count". Other raptors reported included, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle over Westdale, Golden Eagle over Brantford, Osprey, Northern Goshawk, Red-tailed, Red-Shouldered, Coopers and Sharp-shinned Hawk and our first reported Rough-leg in the south of the HSA. Numbers are still being tabulated but final totals will be included in next weeks report. As always with count days, there are always birds found the day before and the day after the count which aren't there the day of. This time around we had a great "day before and after" the count. At Stoney Creek, a check at the end of Gray's Road and Sayer's Park on Monday was fruitful with KING EIDER, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, CommonxBarrow's Goldeneye Hybrid and a Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser hybrid as well. Other birds observed here that morning include Horned Grebe, all three Scoters, many Long-tailed Ducks, Common Goldeneye, Common and Red-throated Loon. After arriving back from this journey another call from Flamborough where a flock of geese yielded four species. Back in the car to see a ROSS'S GOOSE (two of them), Snow Geese (3), Cackling Geese (a few) in among many Canada Geese at the corner of Orkney Road and Hwy 5 just west of Peter's Corners and east of where the Cattle Egrets were and still may be. A second location for a ROSS'S GOOSE seen Wednesday north of Concession 5 and east of Centre Road. The day before the count, a BARRED OWL was seen on Millborough Line just south of Mountsberg Road and a very late Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was seen at Burloak Park. Our winter finches continue to infiltrate the area with Evening Grosbeaks reported in four areas on the count and yesterday, a flock of 27 - 32 seen at a feeder near Dry Lake in the southern area of the HSA. Common Redpolls are still being seen, not so much at feeders but passing overhead. Pine Siskins and Purple Finches were reported at feeders this week. Time to be looking at the crab apple trees for Pine Grosbeak. Snow Buntings are being seen in increasing numbers throughout the area as well as an increase of American Tree Sparrows. In the odds and sods, Eastern Bluebirds were seen and photographed in the Bronte Creek Provincial Park Campground off of Bronte Road. Wood Duck and Red-necked Grebes were seen off of Shoreacres/Paletta Park in Burlington. That's the news for the week. Keep those sightings coming in. Be on the lookout for Cave Swallows in the area! Cheers, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
